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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Getting Your Toddler (or Baby!) to Sleep In

How much would you pay to get your toddler or child to always sleep in (or at least happily stay in bed) until a decent hour? If your answer is $30, keep reading...

***UPDATE: Just used this clock successfully with my 10-month-old as well. I love my life.

Not too long ago, I was fighting the almost-daily battle of a two-year-old waking up too early. I found the most glorious solution and have been singing its praises so loudly and so often, I finally decided to write up a blog post so I can send a link rather than re-typing my explanation of this marvelous invention.

It's called the "Ok to Wake Children's Alarm Clock and Nightlight." Lauren recommended it to me a long time ago and I must admit, I hesitated several months before buying it ($30 isn't a fortune, but I'm pretty cheap and was skeptical it would work). By the time I got frustrated and exhausted enough to order it, I almost paid extra for the one-day shipping. In addition to a toddler, I had a newborn and was desperate for any extra sleep.

How It Works:

- You pick an "Ok To Wake" Time (We chose 7am--but read tip below). As soon as the "Ok to Wake" time rolls around, the whole clock lights up (bright enough to be seen, not bright enough to wake them up--you can control the brightness). The clock stays lit for however long you program it to stay on. (We wanted to make sure the light would still be on when he woke up, so we set the light to stay on for 90 minutes just in case he slept in or took a particularly long nap. When we walk in to get him, we turn it off.)
TIP: To build trust, start with a time that is *BEFORE* their usual wake-up time, even if it's 5am (if they get up in the middle of the night--start with a time that is before when they wake up after getting up in the middle of the night). And then when they get up, point out that the light it already on, so Yay! it's time to get up. Then slowly over a week or two, move the time back 30 minutes at a time until you hit an actually reasonable wake-up time. I realize that makes for a rough week, but it will be SO WORTH it in the end.
- The clock also has a "nap timer." I like using it for both naps and bedtime since consistency is key (plus it ensures my son takes a decent nap). When my son finally drops his nap, I plan on using the clock for a set amount of "quiet time."- Handy tip: Place the clock where your toddler can easily see it while lying in bed, but cannot reach it (we keep it on top of my son's dresser).

Give
Your Toddler Time to Learn/Adjust

I must admit, it was not smooth
sailing from the get-go. It took a few days to really be effective. Every night
before bed, we pointed to the clock and told him, "We'll come get you as
soon as the light turns on." Those first couple mornings were ROUGH. We
almost gave up because we thought he couldn't understand and wasn't ready. It
felt like sleep training all over again (because it was). We synchronized the
clock to our own alarm clock so we could rush in as soon as we knew the light turned on. Upon walking in, we pointed to the light and said, "Yay! The
light's on, you can get up!" In a matter of days, we had built that trust
and he didn't cry for us anymore. He knew we would come get him when it was
time. In the meantime, he happily sang to himself, read books, and then when 7:00am
rolled around, he'd cheerfully call for us.

THE REAL MIRACLE came after using it for about two months. Our toddler
started sleeping past 7am for the first time...ever? If he ever woke up too
early, rather than completely waking himself up by yelling for us (like he used to in the pre-clock days), he'd actually go back
to sleep and wake up well rested and much happier. He was more cheerful throughout the day
because he was finally GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP! And so were we. My husband and I
both agree it was soooooooooooo worth the $30. Hope it works for all of you as well as it's worked for us!

9 comments:

I have this too for my 3 yr old and we both love it. I got it when he transitioned from crib to bed. His is set for 7:30 every morning and comes running into my room saying my clock turned green!! Still almost a year later he is so enthusiastic about it. We also do a 90-minute nap timer for his quiet time and that has been great too! So worth the money!

My big question is your little guy in a toddler bed? Is he or are you planning to potty train? I would really love to use one of these but we are working on potty training and I worry what that will do. I probably better wait till things are more settled. Glad it's worked so well for you!!!

Hey, I purposely got this clock while my little guy was in a crib to make the transition to a bed easier (we're transitioning this weekend, I think). We just did potty training (he's not yet night trained), but he's still waking up from naps dry. My niece uses this clock and she is 100% day and night trained. Also, my friend just bought this for a little guy after he'd already transitioned to a bed. She's been using it for about a month and said it works great for her. Her little guy comes running to her with the clock in the morning saying, "It's green! It's green!" So I've found this works for a variety of potty/bed situations, the key is to be firm and consistent. It's hard at the beginning, but in the long run everyone is happier because it sets a clear and visual guideline for them. But I totally understand not wanting make too many changes at once, especially because potty training is such a big change for them.

Hey, this is so funny because I was thinking of doing a blog post on how we get Eli to stay in his bed. I looked into this clock awhile ago but couldn't afford it (we're DIRT poor). But then I had an epiphany. We have a Christmas light timer that my mom gave me years ago. You plug your Christmas tree into it (or your house Christmas lights), set the times you want it to turn on and off, and voila. So, I took this Christmas light timer and plugged Eli's lamp into it. I set it for 7:00 a.m., and he knows that he can't leave the room until the lamp turns on. Then it's "wake-up time". He runs into my room every morning super excited. It's wake-up time!!! It's great. So, for those of your readers who can't afford the adorable pink/green clock, they might be interested in purchasing this for $10 bucks or less. http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-TN311-Heavy-Grounded-Timer/dp/B005MMSTNG Luckily for us, we already had it. So, we solved our problem for free! Hooray!

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